The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-06-01

the Chinese jungles they grow twice or
thrice as fast or three feet in day.
The palms brought to this country
give but little idea Of the beauty and
grace of the largest of these forms. A
single leaf of the South American palm
raphia measures one hundred feet in
length and fifty in diameter. In Cey-
Ion the leaves of the talipat palm are
used in building houses; two of them
are sufficient for hut capable of shell
tering fifteen or twenty persons.
In South America many vines are
found that are almost as large as trees.
They are called lanes, and hang like
huge snakes from the limbs, binding
the forests together in an almost inter-
minable maze.
In the streams of this same country
are found the giants of the pond lilies,
upon one leaf of which thousands of
the blossoms of our common form could
be placed. The leaf is buoyant enough
to support several children, and they
are used by the natives for various pur-
poses.
1t is, however, in the isolated con-
tinent of Australia that the most
gigantic forms of plant life are seen.
These are the famous gum trees
(eucalyptus colossea), and an idea may
be given of their extraordinary dimen-
sions by imagining one standing by the
side Of the pyramid of Cheops.
The pyramid is four hundred and
eighty feet high, and if surrounded by
group of the Australian giants, its
top would be shaded by their branches,
which would tower twenty feet above
it, or five hundred feet from the ground.
A group Of these monsters presents a
most extraordinary spectacle. One OF
the first discovered was known as a kani
eucalyptus, and was found in a glen OF
the Warren river. The discoveries
came upon it in riding through the
wood. 1t was fallen monarch of un-
| told age, and completely hollow. and
| without dismounting the entire party
rode into the gigantic trunk until
fifteen or twenty were within it.
In the deep, dark recesses of the
forest about Dandenong, another party
came upon an erect tree that was four
hundred and twenty feet high.
another. on the black spur near the
town of Healesville, measures -four
hundred and eighty feet, forty-six feet
higher than the loftiest spire of the
Strasbourg Cathedral.
The wonderful giant trees, sequoia,
Of our own country, while they do moi
equal the giants of Australia in size
exceed them in bulk and the general
majesty of their appearance.
The number of the sequoSa gigauteo
that may be considered giants is about
two hundred, and they are found il
seven distinct groves. One Of the
largest measured four hundred ant
fifty feet from the root to the head
this specimen being at the base ninety
four feet in circumference, and t.
show more clearly its majesty, at thu
great height of three hundred and fifty
feet it is ten feet in diameter.
Yet all these mighty growths spraue
from seeds SO small that fifty Thousand
would not weigh a pound. The age O.
the largest is unknown. Eighteen hun
bred circles have been counted in some
but they are probably many thousand
of years old.
| Among the giants, remarkable TO
their shape, the bottle trees of Aus
tralia claim our attention. At on
locality nine were found, resemblin,
huge bottles from distance. The
were not over seventy feet in height
their energies tending to an increas
in another direction, as at the heigh
of mans head from the ground the.
were thirty-tive feet in circumference
Equally interesting is the Africa
baobab, that seems to resemble in full
growth some gigantic animal sprawl
ing over the ground like some of tn
fabulous monsters of old. and certainl
the tree has some of the tenacity o
life that constituted their attributes
as when great fires devastate tn
country, they are left seemingly ur
harmed, and even when cut dow
they continue to grow. One of thes
trees in Senegal is supposed to be fou
thousand years old.
| In the same country is found tn
| giant banyan; one tree alone, with it
branches, encloses fives acres of land
and has afforded protection from tn
sun to any army of fifteen hundre
men. One at Ceylon measures
quarter of mile around its branches
/ Another at Mer- Budda measures
circuit of two thousand two hundre
feet, possesses three hundred and fifty
four large seperate trunks and owe
three thousand five hundred smalle
ones, all connected to the ground i
the form of pillars. The branches {
this giant have given protection t
over seven thousand persons at on
time.
i The flowers of giant plants are nc
not necessarily large, and the larges
flower known has little or no plant I
support it.
DR.. Beccari has discovered in Sums
ira giant of flowers related to the Ii
), tie European wake robin. The tube
of this giant is five feet in circumfel
ence, and the central spadix is fiv